Üge
General information Under the Power of the Eternal Tengri. Under the Majesty of the Eternal Khan. Arghun Our word. Üge is a Mongolian-German creole spoken in the Northern German Plain. Its name derives from Classical Mongolian "üge" (word; speech). The language came about as a creolisation of a pidgin used in communication between the Mongol upper class and Saxon lower class in the former northern Holy Roman Empire. Phonology The phonology of Üge is a simplified version of Low German with considerable Mongol influences. The language has eight monophthongs and two diphthongs, without a vowel length distinction. It also has sixteen consonant phonemes which don't contrast in length. The fricative /f/ is written word-initially, and otherwise. The plosive /k/ likewise follows a similar distribution: it is initially and otherwise . Vowel Assimilation Umlaut is very productive in Üge; all nouns form their plural by way of either plain affixation or affixation combined with umlaut; this umlaut maps {ë a au o u} → {e e ei ö ü}, meaning that nouns with front vowels do not have umlauted plurals. There also exists a progressive vowel harmony process that maps {a au o u} ↔ {e ei ö ü} based on vowel frontness of the vowel in the root; here, <'ë'> counts as a neutral vowel. These assimilatory processes were either introduced or reinforced by Mongolian influence. Grammar Üge grammar is very isolating, with most of the inflectional system of German stripped away and replaced with analytic constructions. Nouns Üge nouns have a rudimentary declension system: they decline for two numbers and two cases: the singular and plural, and nominative and genitive respectively. All nouns receive a plural suffix <-''(ë)n''> and additionally undergo umlaut whenever possible, as well as receive different articles. Case is indicated either through a genitive suffix <-''(ë)s''> in indefinite nouns, or by article in definite nouns. Indefinite nouns get no article. Declensions of three example nouns, <''di hun''> (dog, wolf), <''da üge''> (word, speech, language) and <''at schil''> (year): Many nouns that end in a CëC syllable undergo syncope, so that they form plurals that end in CCën. Clusters produced by syncope are usually subject to further simplification and reduction. Adjectives Üge adjectives are morphologically simple: their citation form is the singular indefinite, and both definiteness and plurality are marked with <-''ë''> where applicable. Adjectives ending in vowels, as well as in suffixes such as <-''ick''>, <-''fël''> and <-''isch''>, do not take this suffix and are thus indeclinable. Adjectives don't decline according to case. Declensions of two example adjectives, <''mach''> (evil) and <''mendick''> (healthy, sane): Pronouns Üge has a simplified pronoun system, with pronouns coming from native German words: Verbs Üge verb morphology is rudimentary: they inflect for tense (present and preterite), and number (singular and plural) in the present; the infinitive is always identical to the plural. There exist four irregular verbs: <''sin''> (copula), <''kön''> (be able to, know), <''schölën''> (must) and <''don''> (do, work, give). The infinitive and plural are usually marked with <''-ën''>, and the preterite with <''-ët''>; the singular is thus only the bare stem. Conjugation patterns of the four irregular verbs, as well as a sample regular verb <''nemën''> (add, augment, take): Syntax Vocabulary Üge/Lexicon Example text Category:Languages